From 'Extraction 2' to 'Our Planet': T Magazine picks of the week

Here's what to watch, play and listen to this week

WATCH: EXTRACTION 2

A sad Tyler Rake lives in little villa in an Austrian mountainside forest with his dog, chops wood with one (good) arm, and then he is off to Georgia on a deadly mission to machine-gun bad guys into bloody wads of goo while rescuing people. Extraction 2 continues right where 2020’s Extraction left off. Sam Hargrave’s ability to maintain suspense within cleverly staged action is reason enough to fire up this escapist fare where funny parts release the intensity of the chases, firefights and fisticuffs, but the climax is weak.

LISTEN: SUÉLTAME, BOGOTÁ BY DIAMANTE ELÉCTRICO

Diamante Eléctrico is one of the most exciting bands to come out of Colombia, and their brand of Colombian indie rock can be described in three words: funky, inventive and necessary. The three-time Latin Grammy-winning band’s music emphasises community and place, crucial, not only in the Latin indie rock scene, but in music at large. Written by Juan Galeano and Daniel Álvarez, the single Sueltame, Bogota or let me go Bogota is a plea to escape a suffocating home, and shines as a funky love letter to chaotic metropolis dwelling.

BINGE: OUR PLANET II

You might think that CGI or animation has been used, but all the footage is real, unforgettable and stunning. With spectacular photography, David Attenborough describes the massive migration patterns of species around the world and how human intervention has wrecked nature. This season runs through a typical year, starting in spring, and around the globe. You will not be able to forget the millions of red crabs on Christmas Island, the young albatross gobbled by a tiger shark and the murrelet waiting for optimum tailwind for his virgin flight. 

READ: WHY POLITICS FAILS BY BEN ANSELL

Award-winning Oxford professor Ben Ansell draws on examples from Ancient Greece through Brexit and uses his counterintuitive and path-breaking research to discuss why democracy thrives under high inequality and how increased political and social equality can lead to greater class inequality. He vividly illustrates that the politicians are not the problem but that our collective goals result in five political ‘traps’. Ansell explains that even though politics won’t end, it still doesn’t have to fail, and we can escape the political traps of our imperfect world.